Similar to the well known and well accepted mid-life crisis, the Quarter Life crisis is a response to reaching a turning point in our lives- in this case it is the transition between young adulthood and adulthood. It is also commonly viewed as an Identity Crisis. We reach the point where we look at where we are now which in many cases is where we have been striving to be and we ask ourselves 'Is this it?'.
When you think about it logically, it makes perfect sense. For most of our lives, we have had the formal structure of the school environment. We knew how to play the game. Work hard in school, make the grades, go to college, get a job. So we did just that. After we leave the formal educational environment, there is no more road map. We're out there, in the real world as an alleged adult and we suddenly realise that this life isn't bringing us the satisfaction and fulfillment we have been working towards. Trigger the Quarter Life Crisis- it hits us at exactly the time society expects us to have our lives all figured out!
Twenty and thirty somethings experience the Quarter Life Crisis in many different ways however from my research, the most common signs are:
1. You don't want to let go of childhood.
2. Suddenly, you don't know what you want.
3. You are constantly comparing yourself to your peers who seem to have it together.
4. You find it really hard to make decisions.
5. You are terrified of failure.
Guess what though? You're not alone! A recent survey by Vodafone found that 73% of 26-30 years olds felt that they were facing a Quarter Life Crisis! How incredible is that figure?
Originally, I set up The Aspirations Coach to help quarter lifers create their ideal careers. Interestingly, what I found from working with my clients was that most of them were going through exactly the same dilemma that I had faced two years previously- the Quarter Life Crisis.
How I wish I had of known then I wasn't the only one!
